He's a Dreamer
by ShadowHawkX3
Summary: Three kids. One resolution. Citizens of Prontera, beware! Two months of toil for our trio in training! Despite deviating from defined standards, my story seeks to steal a heartstring or two. How's that sound? Okay? Sort of? Well, we'll see, won't we?
1. Unlikely Trio

Sigh. First RO fic. First for everything, I suppose.

* * *

Chapter One: Unlikely Trio 

It was dawn. The city of Prontera was half asleep as the general population woke up to the sounds of picky chirps and wolf barks. The bell tolled 6 AM.

In the town square, ther are several young kids lying on the benches, wide awake and captured by severe lethargy. One of these kids is known as Garouga, a navy-blue-haired novice who, despite all attempts to have it forced on him, flat out refused to wear the novice eggshell given to him on his first day here. Another of these kids is a novice known as Gulcasa, with long red hair and an even longer body. His eyes are closed, basking in the rising sun's rays, taking in the heat with grim pleasure. The last of these kids is Granado, a smiling young buck with short pink hair, wearing a little pink bow on his head, something he solidly claims to have found lying on the ground. The most relaxed of the group, and possibly the most physically deprived, this novice would rather cheer his friends on rather than tackle a giant challenge himself.

These three kids were known as the unlikely trio, mostly because you'd never think you'd see them together in any one place at any given time. So different, yet so inseperable, people would be hard-pressed to find a closer group of three than this.

Garouga leapt up and stretched his arms out, reviving his circulation. "Heh. Well it's been two hours and I still don't know what I want for breakfast."

"Maybe some strawberries?" Granado suggested. "Those spores don't look too hard to kill."

"Spores freakin' suck, man." Gulcasa retorted. "If anyone can explain to me why a walking mushroom would carry around strawberries, then I'll gladly go kill one for you."

Garouga cricked his neck and stretched his back. "Gull. They eat them."

Gulcasa snorted. "Okay, okay, fine. They eat them. But where do they get them from? Trees? There ain't no strawberry that grows on a tree."

"New guys like you and me, Gull." Garouga jumped down from the bench and pulled his long-haired friend up off the ground. "Apparently kids like us don't bother eating our fruits an vegetables."

"Not so with me, I'm afraid." Granado spoke proudly, rising from his makeshift bed made out of tree logs. "I find them rather delicious. Well, maybe not the veggies so much."

Gulcasa groaned. "I'm allergic, man. That sucks a lot harder than getting beat up by fabres." He turned to look at his blue-haired friend, hunger clearly written on his face. "So what's on the menu for today? Pet food? Or perhaps some jellopy? How about a sword, we haven't eaten those in a long time-"

"Oh, shut up, Gull, we aren't that far gone. In fact," Garouga pointed to the east. "I have a feeling that we'll find our fortune to the east!"

Granado looked up, excited at the idea of travel. "The east? I've no idea where that goes."

With an air of sarcasm, Gulcasa said "Well, Granny, they say that the streets are paved with gold and honey and milk flow from all fountains!"

Granado was ecstatic. "What!? Really? I must see it!"

"Don't listen to him Granado, it's not really that flashy." Garouga sniffed the air disapprovingly. "Although if I had a budget like Prontera's I think I'd do that anyway. Pave the streets with gold and name it the Promised Land."

Patting a rather disappointed Granado on the back, Gulcasa spoke. "Yeah, well, we keep dreamin' about it, but it's never gonna happen. As long as the government's in charge, the people'll never change."

"Yeah."Garouga stared off into the distance in the direction in which he had pointed. "Yeah."  
After a minute, the moment passed and the subject was shoved away. "So...breakfast. I think we'll have to go hunting again."

Grinning, Gulcasa flexed his fingers and cracked his knuckles. "That's okay. I'm itching to kill a spore right about now."

Granado looked slightly less happy. "Um...okay. Just give me a couple stones, I can pick em off from far away."

Garouga comforted his physically unfit friend. "You don't have to fight if you don't want to, Granado. It'll be me and Gull at the frontline anyway, so don't worry about it, okay?"

Granado hesitated, that stood up with the rest of his friends, smiling brightly. "Well, alright."

* * *

End chapter one. 


	2. Strength, or lack of it

Sigh. First RO fic. Second Chapter. Gotta keep it going, I suppose.

* * *

Chapter Two: Strength...or lack of it 

"Y'know what? Y'all just suck at fighting."

"Shut up, Gull. You're the only one with a main gauche while the rest of us are stuck with maces!"

"Yeah, yeah..."

Among the three of them, Gulcasa was the only one still standing. Granado was lying flat on his back and Garouga was leaning on his mace, unable to stand on his own.  
With what seemed to be an enormous amount of effort, Granado lifted his head off the ground and threw a glance at Gulcasa, who was still going strong against a rocker.  
"Um...guys? I'm pretty much dead."

"Yeah, we know, Granny." Gulcasa finished off the last of the rocker and searched the spoils. "Nothing good today. Seriously man, I could eat a pecopeco right now."

Exhausted, Garouga arched his back forward and then backwards, stretching out his tired muscles. "Even if we had an egg, we'd need an incubator. You know how much those are. Ungh...I'm starving, but my stomach seems to say otherwise."

Gulcasa lazily scratched the ground. "You've been eating plants all day, Garouga. Including the dirt. Our stomachs aren't supposed to handle that kind of stuff."

"But it feels so weird," he responded. "It's like my stomach has suddenly shut down or something."

"That's dangerous...we should get it looked at--nng..." Granado tried to sit up so that he could look at them all properly, but his strength failed him and the back of his head hit the earth.

"You're in worse condition than both of us combined, Granado. Gimme a sec." Garouga searched through his backpack, looking for something. "I found it the other day while we were searching for dropped equipment. I think it was called a Yggdrasil Leaf, dunno what it is, but it gave me the equivalent of a punch in the face when I sniffed it. Got it!" He held up a large, green leaf that had what looked like yellow seeds in the middle.  
"Try it out, Granado."

With a weary hand, Granado took the leaf and chewed it. "Ngg...how bitter. But there's a little sweetness to it, yes, just a tad though...hmm?!" He suddenly felt a lot stronger. His health replenished, he was ready to fight again. "Wow! That must've been really rare!"

Gulcasa held up his hands. "Dude...that's just so frickin' awesome."

Finally exhausted from standing up, Garouga sat down and bent his fingers back. "I think it was worth about 2,500 Zeny, but I guess the value outweighs the price."

Granado leapt to his feet with the mace in hand. "Alright, time for me to earn my share! I can't let you have all the glory, Gulcasa, no offense."

"None taken." He waited until Granado was out of earshot when he said "Not even if you tried, Granny." He turned towards Garouga and chuckled a bit. "100 Zeny says he won't last a minute."

"Come on, Gull, he's not that bad," Garouga replied as they watched Granado approach a poring from far away. " I'll bet he'll be able to pull this off nicely. I don't think he'll have any trouble against a poring, right?"

Granado strikes. Poring dodges. Poring strikes. Granado takes damage. Granado falls to the ground.

For a moment Gulcasa had a look of mingled amusement and surprise. Then he said "Okay...that took approximately two and a half seconds for Granado to be completely wiped out by the weakest monster in the world. Pay up, Garouga."

Garouga sighed as he stood up. "I don't owe you a thing. Come on, let's get Granado out of there. Chances are that poring's got a severe case of pillaging."

_Moo!_

"Uuuh..."

"Oh, you're awake. That poring did quite a number on you." The voice was very near him. Granado rubbed his eyes for a second before he recognized the voice to be Garouga's.

The first thing Granado noticed when he opened his eyes was Garouga sitting on the side of the bed. Then he noticed that he was lying on that bed. The next thing he saw was Gulcasa leaning on the wall opposite the bed. Then he realized where he was: the Inn.

Granado shut his eyes, wincing from the brightness of the room. "Owww...what happened?"

"Seriously, man, I didn't think a poring could pose such a threat to a new guy like you. You might have set a record." Granado forced his eyes open a crack and saw that the comment had come from Gulcasa.

"Oh, be quiet, Gulcasa...I just don't have any strength, that's all..."

It was Garouga who spoke this time. "What are your strengths, then?"

"Well," Granado sat up in the bed for a second before he continued, "I'm very dextrous and I'm quite good with a violin. I can hit things with rocks from far away...not like it matters, though."

"It does matter," Garouga said. " Your skills outline the most important qualities in an archer. Did you know that?"

His eyes widened. "An archer...?"

"Did you ever consider a career in archery?"

"Well, no, but right now It's sounding quite attractive."

Garouga smiled. "Hm. Well, we'll see."

Granado looked up at Garouga with somthing similar to admiration. "What about you, Garo?" At this point, Gulcasa pushed himself of the wall and walked towards the bed.

Garouga did a double take. He was not used to trying to describe himself. "Me? Well...I'm strong, fast, and more or less intelligent, but that's about it."

"Not nearly as fast or as strong as me though." Gulcasa came up on the other side of the bed, his hands in his pockets. "Strong as hell and fast as heaven!"

Garouga raised an eyebrow. "And smart as picky."

He scowled. "Shut up."

He smiled. "No."

Granado looked at them both, then fell back against the pillows.  
"Guys," he said eventually, "when can we get our jobs?"

Garouga turned to look at him. "Hmm. Maybe tommorrow?"

Gulcasa leapt into the ceiling. "Tommorrow!?" he exclaimed, rubbing his head as he did so. "Damn, that's a low ceiling--tommorrow!? Are you serious? That's just awesome, man, totally awesome!"

"Hmph." Garouga frowned a bit as Granado looked questioningly at him. "But we might have to go separate ways, depending on the jobs we want."

"Oh-oh yeah..." Gulcasa's eyes dropped towards the floor and everyone was silent.

They'd never been away from eachother for more than a day since they'd met. Growing up they'd been brothers to eachother, managing without parents and looking after themselves.  
But when they were separated for long periods of time, their morale took deep hits where they usually wouldn't care and their spirit would wane.  
They did not know how the long the job changing process would take.

"It'll be okay." Granado smiled as the other two looked at him. "We'll be fine, right? Even though we're apart, we're still brothers."

Garouga smiled. "That's right. "

Gulcasa smirked. "Even though we're not really 'brothers,' right, Granny?"

"Right."

"Heh..." Garouga lifted himself off the bed and cricked his arms. "Wanna go get something to eat? I sold off all the junk we got from our hunting trip."

Granado got up and tested his legs on the floor. "Okay! Um--apples?"

Gulcasa panicked, crossing the room towards Garouga. "Uh, how about some meat for a change? We haven't had that in a while!"

Garouga opened the door for Granado, chuckling slightly. "Whatever you want, guys."

* * *

End chapter two. 


	3. Dammit

Sigh. First RO fic. Second full-bodied story. Third chapter. I really like doing this thing.

* * *

Chapter Three: Dammit 

"What is your name?"

"Granado Espada."

It was early morning in Payon. The three friends had already parted ways towards their job changing facilities. Payon was a hidden village in a rather woody area, where just about everything was made out of the wood around them. This was the place where aspiring novices came to become archers.

"Why are you here?"

"To become an archer, sir."

Garouga had come with him, but he'd stayed back inside the village where his trainer lived. He'd accompanied him up to the northern gates, which led to the archer's guild, then wished him good luck and watched him go.

"No need to call me sir, young man."

"Of-of course."

Gulcasa had probably become a swordsman already. He'd stayed in Prontera where the swordsman guild was and promised them all he'd buy them something to celebrate when he graduated. Garouga hadn't been too hopeful, as Gulcasa, he said, had a knack for forgetting things.

"My name is Lazarus, and I will be your instructor, Granado."

"Good to meet you, Lazarus."

"That's not what you'll be thinking in about an hour, young man, if you know what's good for you."

Granado smiled. "I know perfectly what's good for me, Lazarus."

_Arr!_

"Name?"

"Gulcasa."

"Age?"

"Fifteen."

"Reason?"

"Huh?"

"What're ye doin' here?"

"I'm here to be a swordsman."

"Right. Down the hall, second door to the right."

Gulcasa got up from his chair and moved in the direction that the receptionist had pointed. Walking down the hallway, Gulcasa whistled softly and relaxed. Whatever test they put him through would be easy. He was strong, and he knew nobody else who was stronger than he was. What could go wrong?

A lot, it turned out. His first day with the sword proved to be quite strenous. It was heavy, and since he'd never held anything heavier than a dagger in the past few months it was hard to reorient himself to the added weight of the blade. The next day seemed to show no progress at all. He slashed at paper targets but was unable to swing it with enough force to slice the paper without tearing it. _This is stupid,_ thought Gulcasa. Only master fencers would be able to do something like this.

Day number three, however, turned out to be quite interesting. It was sparring day, and Gulcasa was able to hold his own against some of the older students. He even defeated two of them. His ferocity during battle was unmatched, and it allowed him to subdue his opponents without hesitation. They moved him up the ranks. Gulcasa was heading towards the future, only ahead of schedule.

_Rawr!_

"Focus your mind and spirit!"

"I'm trying, dammit!"

"For the last time, do not lose your temper!"

"How can I do that with you in my ear all the time?"

"You must block out all outside influences! If you cannot do that, you cannot truly focus!"

Garouga was having a lot less fun than you might expect. His trainer, Phoenix, had apparently taken it upon himself to give him spiritual training. In other words, it meant eating rice and sitting still for hours. Through Phoenix, Garouga was learning the secrets of Taekwon, which, according to Phoenix, was a technique to calm the body, mind, and soul. To Garouga, however, it just looked like a bunch of kicking and punching. In an effort to rid him of this notion, Phoenix made him stand on his head for twenty minutes. It didn't work too well.

"How do you do it?" Garouga asked later during mealtime.

"Do what?"

"Focus without getting annoyed at someone trying to distract you?"

"Easy." Phoenix took his time in answering. He paused for a bit to sip tea from his cup and ate few grains of rice from his bowl. "Ignore them."

"How do I do that?"

Phoenix didn't answer.  
"Excuse me."

No answer.  
"Phoenix."

"Hm?"

"Were you doing that just now? Ignoring me?"

"Doing what?"

"Oh, for crying out loud..."

"That's enough food for today. Come on, lets get on with your training."

"But-but I didn't even eat anything yet-!"

"When you have time, even if it is just a second, use it! Now go!"

_Chirp!_

Granado got up. His whole body ached from three day's worth of hunting, yet he still had only two fine-grained trunks in his backpack to show for his toil. Willows were not easy to kill, at least not to Granado. He didn't realize that he'd already passed the test with all the other trunks he had.  
The exam test stated that students would have one week to seek out willows, destroy them, and take a certain amount of trunks, which would then be scored to determine what kind of bows the graduates recieved. Granado did not know that two fine-grained trunks, five regular trunks and twenty barren trunks would have been enough to earn him a solid bow, which was basically everything he had.

Thinking he had failed the test, Granado had half given up the battle against the willows. He'd lost the heart to keep fighting.  
Things weren't this difficult when he was with Garouga and Gulcasa. They looked out for him and he looked out for them and they kept eachother out of trouble. Being separated like this was not something he was used to.

"Giving up already? I didn't think you'd be the first to go, Granado."

Granado lifted his head up. His heart suddenly pounded as he realized who it was. "Garouga!"

A boy stepped out from the among the trees and smiled. It was him. "Heheh! 'Sup? I thought you might need a little help from a taekwon kid."

"Taekwon...kid? You mean-you've done it?"

"Yep. Got the certificate and everything. That Phoenix is an old fart, d'you know that? He's so serious about everything you'd think we were an inch away from death or something."

"He's only looking out for you, isn't he?"

"Yeah, well maybe he does that a bit too much." Garouga took Granado's hand and lifted him off the ground. "You should've seen him when I finally graduated. Got all proud and everything. Held up my certificate and literally shouted 'Garouga Roukanken! YOU ARE NOW A TAEKWON KID! CONGRATULATIONS FROM ME AND THE VILLAGE OF PAYON!' About two people clapped. You should've seen it, man."

Granado smiled. Then Garouga turned to him, his face serious. "You need to pass the exam, right?"

"Umm...yes."

"Okay...okay, good...alright, here's what we're going to do."

_Quack!_

"Gulcasa Bronquia...you are now the strongest student in the entire guild, about to graduate as the second youngest swordsman in history, and will leave this place having many followers and many legacies. Is there anything you want to say?"

"Uh, yeah. Y'all can go screw yourselves. Thank you."

It took Gulcasa ten minutes to outrun the officials and flee the building, stealing a falchion along the way. Not a bad day for the red-haired bastard.

Still, he had to be careful from now on. This was too trivial for the Prontera cavalry to be involved, but there were sure to be someone searching for a boy with a stolen falchion. A boy with long red hair. Which, quite frankly, stands out in a bustling crowd.

And in that bustling crowd stood Garouga, the taekwon kid, and his friend, Granado the archer. Gulcasa spotted them and immediately tackled Granado.  
"Ha! Archer Granny, about to take on the world!"  
Granado struggled to get him off his shoulders. "Good to see you too, Gulcasa...but please get off!"

Gulcasa chuckled and looked at Garouga, who frowned a bit a said "Isn't it time to eat?"

"Oh...um...Well, I, uh..."

"You...don't have any money? What happened at your graduation? I thought they gave you--oh." Gulcasa shifted his feet as Garouga's eyes narrowed, beginning to understand. Granado was smiling, oblivious to the inevitable outburst.

"Well, uh, about that...at graduation, I uh..."

Gulcasa fled before Garouga got a chance to fully realize what had happened. "GULCASA, YOU ARE A DEAD MAN!" Gulcasa ran as fast as the wind, just fast enough to put a good amount of distance between him and those fists of fury, laughing all the way. "DAMN ALL THE YOUS IN THE WORLD WHO CAN'T KEEP THEMSELVES CLEAN FOR TWO MONTHS!"

Perhaps it was just as well that they didn't go anywhere to eat, because if they did they'd probably be dead.

_Oro?_

We haven't forgotten Lazarus, I hope. He was Granado's instructor.

At first, he couldn't believe it. It was impossible to cheat the system, he'd built it himself. Yet how could a runt like Granado graduate with ten fine-grained trunks, all gained in a single week? That was impossible to accomplish for novices. It was scientifically proven.

Yet this kid did it. He'd be shot to hell to know how he'd done it, but Lazarus was furious nonetheless.

Someone had cheated the system, and Lazarus was thoroughly pissed about it.

"Dammit!"

* * *

End chapter 3.


End file.
